INALLy, the much awaited
“sorry” from the US over last
year Salala tragedy that killed
two dozen Pakistani troops
came on Tuesday.
Reciprocating the gesture, Government
of Pakistan (GoP) is likely to reopen Ground
Lines of Communication (GLOC) that was
blocked as a reprisal of the tragic incidence.
The agreement is expected to reaffirm
Pak-US relationship that has remained fragile ever since the Abbottabed incidence of
May 02 last year. Furthermore, the development is likely to pave way for the reimbursement of Coalition Support Funds (CSF) and
other foreign flows, providing some respite
to country’s fragile external account and
currency outlook in Fy13.
To recall, following the Nato attacks in
November 2011, Pak-US relations which
were already fragile after Abbottabad incidence came under considerable strain.
As a retaliation, Pakistan closed the
GLOC while Pakistan’s biggest donor and
trading partner i,e. US reciprocated by curtailing aid and other financial flows to Pakistan, with US providing approx. US$2bn a
year in military and non-military aid to Pakistan during 2001-2010.
Furthermore, the onus was passed on to
the parliament which placed apology from

the US as one of the key determinant to reopen GLOC. yesterday, after US Secretary of
State mild statement saying “we are sorry for
the losses suffered by Pakistan military”, the
DCC (Defense Committee of Cabinet) agreed
to reopen while forgoing its demand to put
additional taxes and additional transit fees.
“The agreement is expected to unlock
reimbursement of CSF with
certain news corner quoting US will release about
US$1.1bn soon to Pakistan’s as part of the deal
that lifted the blockade on
NATO supplies,” said
Topline analyst Nauman Khan.
He said the unlocking of CSF, $1.6bn
budgeted in Fy13,
and other foreign
flows including
Kerry Lugar from
country’s biggest
foreign donor
and
trading
partner is expected to provide antidote for
country’s external account.
“The development could reduce
country’s

Cement under stress

The sector remained under
financial pressure in FY12

KARACHI
ZAIN ALI

Cement sector remained under financial pressure during the fiscal year 2011-12
due to increase in its input cost mainly,
electricity, diesel, paper sack, gypsum and
devaluation in Pak rupee. However, for the
year 2011-2012, the industry’s local cement
dispatches were the highest ever in the history of the country.
Revealing the performance of the cement sector in the year 2011-12, Spokesman
of All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association in a statement said that the local
cement dispatches increased to record level
of 23.947 million tons registering an increase of 8.84 percent. However the exports
remained under pressure throughout the
year and declined by 9.12 percent to 8.568

million tons. He said 2011-12 was the third
straight year when the cement exports declined. He further said that the cement sector added 3 million tons additional
production capacity in the year 2011-12 as
its total production capacity increased by
7.23 percent to 44.217 million tons from
42.235 million tons in 2010-11. However,
for the year 2011-12 its capacity utilization
remained under pressure due to sluggish
export demand, non revival of construction
sector in the country, lack of investment in
housing sector and government inability to
initiate mega projects.
He said that from the peak level of
10.752 million tons achieved in 2008-09
the export have now decreased to 8.568
million tons in the year 2011-2012 showing
a decline of 20.4 percent. He said hype created on trade with India has so far not been
materialized and export in that market was
only 0.605 million tons in 2011-12 which is
well below the expectation of the cement
sector. However, the Afghanistan market
remained stable and cement sector exported 4.715 million tons in 2011-2012. Exports to other destination through sea
excluding India declined to 3.247 million
tons showing a reduction of 17%. Besides,
the capacity utilization of cement sector
reached its lowest at 69.67 percent in past
one decade in the first two quarters of 201112 that ended on December 31, 2011 while
exports continued to decline offsetting the
gains in local consumption.

current account deficit to 1.3-1.6% of GDP
in Fy13 from our initial estimates of 1.72.0% of GDP, while could keep our overall
forex reserves around $11-12bn by the June
2013,” the analyst said.
Further, he said, with improving Pak US
relationship, the gov’t could leverage its
reaffirmed relationship with US at the time
of likely re-entry in the IMF program, which
is anticipated to happen in later part of this
current fiscal year. This in turn could allow
country’s excess to tap in other donor agencies funds like World Bank and Asian Development Bank with new commitments
contingent on the nod from IMF.
However, Khan said Pak rupee had
not rallied significantly in the morning
trade on Wednesday amid uncertainty as to when and how much flows
will come after this deal. PKR
has already deprecated by
4.2% against US currency
in
last
4-months.
“Though some stability
is expected in PKR in
short term but in the
medium term pressure
will be there in the
local currency due to
higher debt payment (including US$2.2bn IMF SBA
loan repayment), reduce foreign
flows amid energy crisis and heightened political noise,” he concluded.

LAHORE
ONLINE

Pakistan and Industrial
Traders Associations Front
(PIAF) Wednesday urged
the government to utilize
coal to generate electricity as
the energy situation is
worsening with every
passing day thus pushing
the economy to the wall.
While talking to a group of
businessmen, the PIAF
Chairman Engineer Sohail
Lashari said that the business community was unable to understand that
why the government was not initiating coal based power projects when
the country owns trillion dollar worth of coal reserves that are enough to
produce one lakh megawatts of electricity for 100 years. The PIAF
Chairman said that Pakistan is the most resourceful country in the
community of developing states but the electricity is the severest in
comparison to other nations. Engineer Sohail Lashri said that Africa,
Poland, India and China were producing huge quantity of electricity by
coal but Pakistan despite having huge resources is producing only 1 per
cent electricity through coal means. “Neither any attention was paid to
the construction of new water reservoirs nor other resources including
solar nor wind were tapped that resulted in a painfully slow economic
growth.” The PIAF Chairman said that it is high time that the Federal
government should initiate work on coal based power plants to get rid
off the electricity shortages that have rendered hundreds of thousands of
industrial workers out of jobs besides closure of numerous industrial
units. The electricity through would also help curtail oil import bill as at
the moment a big chunk of electricity being consumed is being produced
through thermal means and a huge amount of much needed foreign
exchange is being spent on it.

LCCI and the
chamber of secrets

From rental
prowess to
mental prowess

LAHORE
STAFF REPORT

PEW says PM’s renewed energy
focus has done the square root of
naught for the country

g

ISLAMABAD
ONLINE

The Pakistan Economy Watch (PEW)
on Wednesday said Prime Minister
Raja Pervez Ashraf’s renewed focus
on energy offered nothing to the
masses. The first meeting that Raja
Pervaiz Ashraf chaired after assuming
the charge as prime minister was to
resolve energy crisis proved another
useless effort, it said. Now, the load
shedding has increased in the
harrowing summer making lives of
180 million full of miseries, affecting
industrial and agricultural
production, leading to deaths and
making mobs more violent, said Dr.
Murtaza Mughal, President PEW.
Announcement regarding provision of
extra fuel to Independent Power
Producers (IPPs) was taken positively
despite the fact that the problem in
not scarcity of fuel but non-payment
of dues, he said.

The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry has convened a
meeting of all the Chambers of Commerce in Punjab on Tuesday, July
10, to sort out the issues being faced by the business community and to
develop a joint strategy for their solution. In a statement issued here,
the LCCI President Irfan Qaiser Sheikh said that the Lahore Chamber
of Commerce and industry has decided to convene the meeting of all
the chamber of Commerce in Punjab as per the directions of the Chief
Minister Punjab who would also be sending all the Provincial
Secretaries to the said meeting. The LCCI President said that the
Provincial Secretary Labour, Secretary Environment and Secretary
Home would especially be attending the said meeting as business
community in a meeting with the Chief Minister had raised a number
of issues that are being created by these departments. Irfan Qaiser
Sheikh said that in a meeting with the Chief Minister, he had raised the
issuance of notices to the business community by the Labour and
Environment departments that are creating troubles for the business
doing people in these very challenging times. “Other provinces also
have Labour and Environment departments but they are not doing any
such practice.” The LCCI President said that this is a time to give relief
to the business community but certain provincial departments were
doing the other way round by serving notices on daily basis for no
reason that has created unrest among the people who are generating
huge revenue for the government. Irfan Qaiser sheikh said that only
because of ongoing energy crisis the province of Punjab has lost almost
two per cent of its GDP which means a net loss of Rs 200 billion with a
closure of 40 per cent of the industry. “Another 10 to 15 per cent are on
the verge of closure if the federal government fails to take immediate
remedial measures.” The LCCI President said that the cost of doing
business in the Province of Punjab has increased significantly as
compared to other provinces of the country.

Zardari looks east for more power
g

President discusses power projects with Chinese delegation
ISLAMABAD
ONLINE

President Asif Ali Zardari discussed in
detail the projects of electricity generation, which were being undertaken in cooperation with Three Gorges Corporation
of China.
This he said during his meeting with
a Chinese delegation headed by Senior
Vice President China Three Gorges Corporation Wang Shaofeng, here at Aiwane-Sadr on Wednesday.
Spokesperson to the President Senator Farhatullah Babar said that the projects being undertaken with the assistance

of Three Gorges Corporation of China
would add into the system around 2500
MW of electricity of which approximately
1950 MW would be the hydro electricity
and the rest would be generated through
wind and solar means.
The President during meeting while
highlighting all weather Pak-China
friendship appreciated Chinese assistance to the country especially in the
power sector. He said that Three Gorges
Dam Project was a living testament to the
genius and vision of the Chinese people
and their leadership and Pakistan was
eager to learn from the Chinese experience of growth and development.

The President said that Pakistan was
also keen to have Chinese assistance in
conservation of its water resources.
While appreciating the company’s
involvement in various electricity generation projects, solar power project
and the wind project in Sindh, the
President invited the company to also
invest in new projects and to participate in the construction of small and
medium sized dams in various parts of
the country.
He reiterated Government’s assurance of all possible facilitation to the
Three Gorges Dam Project Company in
construction of dams and alternate en-

ergy projects in the country.
The Spokesperson said that
China Three Gorges International Corporation a large
scale clean energy group
that specializes in the development and operation
of hydropower project
construction and management, electric power
generation and providing
professional technical assistance was assisting
Pakistan in various projects that aim at overcoming the energy shortages.

AKISTAN Stocks closed lower
amid profit taking ahead of corporate earning announcements due
next week, as viewed by Ahsan
Mehanti, Director at Arif Habib
Investments Limited. The Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) 100-share index declined 22.69
points or 0.16 percent to close at 14,178.10
points as compared to 14,200.79 points of the
previous session. The KSE 30-share index shed
1.17 points to close at 12,303.77 points as compared with 12,302.60 points.
The market turnover was down to 100.826
million shares after opening at 119.364 million
shares. The overall market capitalization declined 0.02 percent and traded Rs 3.610 trillion

as against Rs 3.616 trillion. Losers outnumbered gainers 133 to 131, while 96 stocks were
unchanged. Mehanti added “Institutional support witnessed in blue chip stocks after unblocking of Nato routes. Apologies from US for
killing of Pakistan troops kept investor sentiments positive.”
The KMI 30-share was plunged by 46.09
points to close at 24,448.64 points from its
opening at 24,402.55 points. The KSE all-share
index closed with a loss of 16.13 points to
9,961.81 points as against 9,977.94 points. He
said that limited foreign interest amid uncertain global markets played a catalyst role in
bearish activity at KSE.
D.G.K Cement was the volume leader in
the share market with 10.946 million shares
as it closed at Rs 41.06after opening at Rs
41.08. Pakistan Telecom Company P.T.C.L.A

Shares rise on hopes of Monti says agrees with
more monetary stimulus Merkel on budgetary
discipline

TOKYO: Asian shares rose to a sevenweek high on Wednesday as investors
kept hopes high for more monetary
policy stimulus to support the faltering
global economy, starting with a likely
rate cut by the European Central Bank.
European shares looked set to
marginally extend gains after closing at
a two-month high on Tuesday, with
spreadbetters predicting that region’s
major markets would open up 0.1
percent. U.S. markets are closed for the
Independence Day holiday. MSCI’s
broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares
outside Japan advanced as much as 0.8
percent to its highest since mid-May,
led by the energy and materials
sectors. Resource-reliant Australian
shares were the region’s top performers
with a 1 percent gain. AGENCIES

bERliN: Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti
said in an interview published Wednesday
hours before hosting talks with German
Chancellor Angela Merkel that the two wanted
growth but not at “the expense of budgetary
discipline.” The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
quoted Monti on its website as saying that
after last Thursday’s Brussels EU summit the
press should have written “Angela + Monti = a
step forward for European economic policy.”
The German daily said Monti rejected the
impression that there had been deep
differences between him and Merkel over debt
mutualisation. He explained that while Italy
had gone for growth, it was “not at the price
of budgetary discipline” which is treasured by
Merkel. AGENCIES

Business 02

traded 8.022 million shares as it opening at
14.60 and close at 14.52. Jahangir Siddiqi
Company traded 5.261 million shares as it
closed at Rs 13.33 after opening Rs 13.55.
Fauji Fertilizer traded 5.048 million shares as
it closed at Rs 115.54 from its opening at Rs
|114.28. Nishat Mills Limited traded 4.323
million shares and closed at Rs 51.13 as
against its opening at Rs 49.30. National
Bank of Pakistan traded 3.842 million shares
as it closed at Rs 44.87 as compared to its
opening at Rs 45.14.
On the future market, the turnover decreased to 10.010 million against 11.244 million
shares of Tuesday. The UniLever Pakistan and
Nestle Pakistan Limited, up Rs 71.16 and Rs
14.28, led highest price gainers while, Rafhan
Maize XD and Colgate Palmolive down Rs 77.34
and Rs 30.09 respectively, led the losers.

FPCCI woos Iranian
investors
islamabad: The Federation of Pakistan
Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI)
has said that Pakistan offers tremendous
opportunities for investors specially in power
sector projects in the province of Khyber
Pakhtunkhawa and urged the Iranian investors
to take optimum benefits from the
opportunities. Offer to this effect was made
during the visit of a business delegation led by
Vice President of FPCCI Zubair Ali which is
currently visiting Iran on a business to business
tour. A statement of the FPCCI issued here
Wednesday said that upon the arrival of the
delegation at Khurasan a city of Mashad (Iran),
its governor Gulli Dadi, President Khurasan
Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI)
Agha Mehdi, Ambassador of Pakistan to Iran
Habibullah and Commercial Director Ministry
of Commerce Iran Mehdi Latifi received the
delegation. APP

Eurozone retail sales rebound
BRUSSELS: Eurozone retail sales rebounded in May, rising by 0.6
percent from the level in April, when they had declined by 1.4 percent,
European Union figures showed on Wednesday. Sales of food, drinks
and tobacco rose by 0.2 percent and non-food items by 1.0 percent in
May compared to April, according to the Eurostat statistics agency.
However the retail sales index fell by 1.7 percent in May compared to
the same month last year, with non-food sales down by 1.5 percent and
food, drinks and tobacco sales dropping 1.1 percent. AGENCIES

PERTH: Qatar Airways today launched scheduled
flights to the Western Australian city of Perth,
officially marking the start of thrice-weekly
services to the country’s mining and exploration
hub. Perth becomes Qatar Airways’ second
gateway in Australia after Melbourne – and the
carrier’s 117th destination worldwide. It is also
the latest of several route launches by the
rapidly-growing global airline this year. Operated
by the award-winning airline’s flagship long-haul
Boeing 777 aircraft, passengers will fly in
supreme comfort, with fine dining onboard and
access to more than 1,000 in-flight audio and
video entertainment options in every seat.

islamabad: The Pakistan Credit Rating Agency
(PACRA) has maintained the long-term and shortterm entity ratings of Soneri Bank Limited at “AA-”
(Double A minus) and “Al+” (A one plus),
respectively. These ratings denote a very low
expectation of credit risk emanating from a very
strong capacity for timely payment of financial
commitments. The rating of unsecured,
subordinated TFC issue of PKR 1,200mln has also
been maintained at “A+” (Single A plus). The
rating denotes a low expectation of credit risk
emanating from a strong capacity for timely
payment of financial commitments.
The ratings reflect the revitalization being brought
into the bank through
a) Induction of seasoned team while adding clarity
to the organizational structare,
b) Focus on energizing its franchise value,
c) Development of a bank-wide integrated
information system, in tam, a strong control
environment, and
d) Expansion as well as diversification in income
streams. These initiatives are expected to hold the
banks respective position in the peer universe that
was increasingly under pressure due to
deterioration in asset quality, subdued profitability,
and limited system presence.

NESPAK a great national
asset: state minister
laHORE: NESPAK is a great national asset of
Pakistan which has been rendering valuable
services in the field of engineering consultancy
throughout Pakistan and in 36 other countries of
the world. This was stated by Mr. Tasneem Ahmed
Qureshi, Minister of State for Water and Power
during his visit to NESPAK House here on
Wednesday. Asad I. A. Khan, Managing Director
of NESPAK, gave a detailed presentation on the
role and achievements of NESPAK to the visiting
Minister. He informed the Minister that NESPAK
was established by the Government of Pakistan in
1973 to create a pool of talented engineers;
attain self-reliance in engineering consultancy
and replace the foreign Consultants. NESPAK has
achieved these objectives to a large extent, he

wholesale market is estimated at over $ 42 billion
a year which is serving a population approaching
180 million – thereby, attracting foreign retail
chains like MCC and Carrefour and allowing local
retail markets to expand said Chairman BOI.

ZONG announces Flutter

dUbai: Emirates is embarking on a major
expansion of its route network with three
additional destinations to be launched in the next
six months, on top of the 12 new routes already
being rolled out in 2012. From 1 st November,
Emirates will launch four weekly flights to
Adelaide, rising to a daily service from 1 st
February 2013. Adelaide will be the airline’s fifth
destination in Australia which is currently served
with 70 flights per week. The airline’s current
double-daily service to Perth will grow to 19
weekly flights from 1 st December, becoming a
triple daily operation from 1st March next year.

Metro, Makro merger finalised
islamabad: The merger of German Metro Cash
and Carry (MCC) and Makro is finalized and the
German group will be taking over all Makro
stores, including three in Karachi. This was
informed by Vice President International Affairs
Metro Group Tino Zeiske during a meeting with
the Chairman Board of Investment Saleem H.
Mandviwalla. After over taking all the Makro
stores, MCC will become a big group in the
country having turnover of more than Rs 40
billion annually. The merger can increase the
revenues of the MCC by 20 billion per annum.
MCC already has five stores in Pakistan with two
of them in Lahore and one each in Karachi,
Islamabad and Faisalabad. In October 2007, MCC
launched its first wholesale store in Lahore.
Within four years, it has been able to launch four
more stores. This new acquisition will add five
more stores taking the existing business to a total
of 10 stores nationwide. Pakistan’s retail and

KaRaCHi: After launching various inimitable
packages, ZONG – the digital partner of Pakistani
nation, is now announcing its first ladies package
called Flutter. This deal is designed while keeping in
mind the fact that women have different
requirements as compared to men and these needs
have to be addressed differently. Realizing that
women are an underrepresented segment of our
society, ZONG has come up with Flutter which talks
to women directly in their tone of voice. The
package is available to all ZONG customers who
can subscribe to it by simply sending “Sub” or “Y”
to 369 via SMS. After activation, subscribers will be
able to enjoy 75 free minutes, 100 SMS, Flutter
lounge and call block service.

UCP’s ICIBM-2012
laHORE: The 2nd International Conference on
Contemporary Issues in Business Management
2012 (ICIBM-2012) was held on July 4th at Pearl
Continental Hotel Lahore. ICIBM provides an
exclusive platform for researchers, academicians
and professionals across the world to share their
research contributions and experiences.
Participants from cross business disciplines met
and interacted with each other in this dynamic
event for future research directions and applied
research needs.

KARACHI: Group photo of Hinopak Management at the grand
launching ceremony of ‘New Hino Dutro 300 Series’, held at a
local hotel.